Top 5 “M” Artists

July 16, 2014

Do you hear that?

The sound of Jon Bon Jovi singing Whoa we’re halfway there?

Lucky Letter #13/26, the Top 5 Ms!

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5.Mika
Believe it or not, in the first draft, Motörhead was my #5. But until my daughter starts belting outAce of Spades, her car sing-alongs with Mika’s Life in Cartoon Motion bump him into the Top 5.

Like The Darkness, Mika brought some fun back into music in the mid-00s. Grace Kelly, Lollipop and Big Girl are practically perfect pop ditties.

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4. McCartney, PaulSpeaking of songwriting, few have been better at the craft than Paul McCartney. Much like Lennon with the “L” artists, this ranking is based solely on his post-Beatles output. He hasn’t always been consistent but when he’s on (as with Ram), he’s on.

2. Modest Mouse
Yes there’s the inevitable Johnny Marr bias but a lot of their stuff without him is equally strong.

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1. MorrisseyHard to believe he’s been a solo artist, singing his patented 3-note range, for 26 years! Viva Hate set the bar, later raised by Your Arsenal & Vauxhall, hopefully his 2014 album will be a return to form.

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And there will hopefully be a couple “M” reviews before too long, enjoy!

A rare occurrence of us not being on the same page, as McCartney would be the only one here who would crack my Top 5. I really like Metallica (as you might remember from my own blog series covering their discography) and can’t argue about their inclusion on your list but I’m not as passionate about them as a number of other “M” artists. I’ve never been able to get past Morrissey’s voice, which is a shame because I like a lot of things about The Smiths otherwise. His solo work? Not so much.

My “M” list would have to be whittled down from these, some of which are glaring omissions from your list (but who am I to judge?): Bob Marley, Van Morrison, The Moody Blues, Joni Mitchell, Marillion, Charles Mingus, Aimee Mann, John Martyn, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, My Morning Jacket, John Mellencamp, Sarah McLachlan, John Mayall, Midnight Oil and Madness.

Still not sure how you manage to come up with Top 5’s. I could barely reduce my list to the ones listed above. I give you much credit for your efforts.

Did you see him on his “to the Max” tour? It was a good one.
I was actually at the Waterfront in Hamilton this weekend, reminiscing with friends about seeing another Kim Mitchell show there about 15 years ago. I believe Sass Jordan opened, we definitely got our $2 entry fee’s worth!

Never seen him YET that is 😀
He’s an entertainer – bizarre sense of humour though, started singing about syphilis to the tune of the beatles’ Yesterday at what I thought was billed as more of a family friendly show!